Would out-of-state gas ease prices?

Updated 7:35 pm, Saturday, October 6, 2012

This Chevron station in Menlo Park was far from the only one in the Bay Area posting prices of more than $5 for a gallon of regular gas Friday.

This Chevron station in Menlo Park was far from the only one in the Bay Area posting prices of more than $5 for a gallon of regular gas Friday.

Photo: Noah Berger, Associated Press

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President Obama, at an Oakland event in July, returns Monday for fundraising in San Francisco.

President Obama, at an Oakland event in July, returns Monday for fundraising in San Francisco.

Photo: Sarah Rice, Special To The Chronicle

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State Treasurer Bill Lockyer, discusses an alternative energy tax break program that benefited companies, like Solyndra, while appearing before a joint committee hearing at the Capitol in Sacramento, Calif., Wednesday, Oct. 19, 2011. Lawmakers were looking into the California Alternative Energy and Advanced Transportation Financing Authority that has approved 33 applicants $104 million in sales tax exemptions under the roughly year-old program that allows qualified companied to waive the state sales taxwhen purchasing manufacturing equipment in California. Lockyer suspended the program to new applicants while the authority review is application process. less

State Treasurer Bill Lockyer, discusses an alternative energy tax break program that benefited companies, like Solyndra, while appearing before a joint committee hearing at the Capitol in Sacramento, Calif., ... more

Photo: Rich Pedroncelli, AP

Would out-of-state gas ease prices?

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With gas in short supply and prices in California soaring to more than $5 per gallon, a quick but politically volatile solution may be to allow cheaper, out-of-state gas to flow into the state, says Severin Borenstein, the co-director of the Energy Institute at UC Berkeley's Haas School of Business.

"Just as it doesn't take much of a shortage to trigger the price spike, it wouldn't take much of an increase in supply to bring the price down," Borenstein said.

Since 1996, California pumps have been required to sell a special blend of lower polluting gasoline.

Besides, the return of the Exxon refinery in Torrance to full production will probably end the latest spike within a week.

"At this point, it's not necessary," Schremp said.

As for the next spike?

Booked: San Francisco is poised to have the most hotel visitors on record.

The city has sold out all 34,000 rooms on multiple occasions this year - bringing the average occupancy rate to 80 percent.

"This could well be the busiest year the city has ever seen," San Francisco Travel president Joe D'Alessandro said.

The last time the city reached the 80 percent mark was during the dot-com boom in 1999 - when there were slightly fewer rooms.

In the past decade, however, the typical price of a room has also increased more than $20 - and now averages more than $170 a night.

"So hotels will have more revenue than ever before," says Thomas Callahanof PKF Consulting, which advises the hotel business.

In other words. he says, "It's a great time to own a hotel in San Francisco."

This weekend, with an estimated 1 million visitors - mostly from around the Bay Area- descending on San Francisco for everything from Fleet Week and the America's Cup World Series races to Giants playoff games, the town was expected to be booked full.

In all, tourism generates more than a half-billion annually in taxes for the city - making it the town's No. 1 industry.

Obama's return: As if the weekend didn't already put a strain on the city, now comes President Obama for yet another trip to the city.

The First Fundraiser touches down Monday for a one-stop rally and round of fundraisers at Bill Graham Civic Auditorium.

For those with heavier wallets, there also will be a $40,000-a-head "tech roundtable" - or, for the same price, couples can get dinner cooked by celebrity chefs Alice Watersand Tyler Florence served up in one of the auditorium's meeting rooms.

"Not a particularly intimate setting," said one organizer, "but at this point it's about money."

Upward of $4 million, in fact, if the fundraising here goes as planned.

Ivory tower: Given the security, one would have thought the California State University trustees were picking the pope rather than the new chancellor.

For starters, all trustees were required to hand over their cell phones when they went in for the final selection process.

Second, the trustees left the ex-officio board members - i.e., elected state officials - out of the initial screening process, something Assembly Speaker John Perezvoiced his displeasure over when he showed up at the Long Beach meeting.

By the way, state Treasurer Bill Lockyerwho by all accounts gave a very impressive interview for the job, was not among the three finalists - all three of whom were academics.

San Francisco Chronicle columnists Phillip Matier and Andrew Ross appear Sundays, Mondays and Wednesdays. Matier can be seen on the KPIX-TV morning and evening news. He can also be heard on KCBS radio Monday through Friday at 7:50 a.m. and 5:50 p.m. Got a tip? Call (415) 777-8815, or e-mail matierandross@sfchronicle.com.

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